Sharing my experience planking my house

[TmAfterTm]

I got a few perfect Leylandii trees in my backyard, we cut them down and used them for the house extension project.

We make planks from those trees (around 1.5” thick) and add some Douglas fir wood to them.

I'm using a crazy amount of screws (way more than you'd think!) To make sure everything is super strong and really well put together, so if one screw fails, there are tons more to hold it.

I'm pretty proud of my cheapo saw setup for cutting the angles and the gables. It's just a basic track saw that wasn't expensive, but it's doing the job.

 

[jadafirexoxo]

Sounds awesome.. Efficiency at its best for sure. Congrats and good luck!! Will wait for the finished product photos. Ha ha

 

[KnockKnock]

I got a few perfect Leylandii trees in my backyard, we cut them down and used them for the house extension project.

We make planks from those trees (around 1.5" thick) and add some Douglas fir wood to them.

I'm using a crazy amount of screws (way more than you'd think!) To make sure everything is super strong and really well put together, so if one screw fails, there are tons more to hold it.

I'm pretty proud of my cheapo saw setup for cutting the angles and the gables. It's just a basic track saw that wasn't expensive, but it's doing the job.

Now that's how you do it, no excuses, just straight up making it work. Leylandii might not be everyone's first choice, but if it's dried right and you build smart (which it sounds like you are), it'll hold up just fine. And yeah, overdo the screws, better paranoid than picking up boards in a storm.

 

[GrumpyOldFart]

I got a few perfect Leylandii trees in my backyard, we cut them down and used them for the house extension project.

We make planks from those trees (around 1.5" thick) and add some Douglas fir wood to them.

I'm using a crazy amount of screws (way more than you'd think!) To make sure everything is super strong and really well put together, so if one screw fails, there are tons more to hold it.

I'm pretty proud of my cheapo saw setup for cutting the angles and the gables. It's just a basic track saw that wasn't expensive, but it's doing the job.

Would LOVE to see pictures of your progress!

 

[SplinterHurts]

I adore the project. Douglas fir and Leylandii are a good combination. Overbuilding with screws is a wise decision,it's better to have too many than too few. And hey, if a budget track saw does the job well, there's nothing wrong with it. Continue..

 

[IntoTheWoods]

Totally agree,it's better to overbuild and be safe. I'm curious, though, how is that budget track saw holding up with those long fir cuts? Clean edges, or are you getting a lot of tear-out?

 

[humanerror404]

Sounds good! what kind of a house extension are you working on though? Is it a new room or something else? and do you like Leylandii as a building material compared to the Douglas Fir?

 

[ketsu0nyo]

This sounds cool. Did you use it to build beams or posts? read somewhere that it's not that super durable. but i guess the gazillion of screws can help?